No Air
by esprit hikari
Summary: Yugi is suffocating, and Atemu helps by stealing his breath away. Puzzleshipping one-shot


Hey everyone! My first attempt at a story, so here goes!

I own absolutely nothing, I was inspired by Yu-Gi-Oh and the song 'No Air' by Jordin Sparks. You will see I used quotes straight from the song.

No Air

The Final Duel was an emotional time for everyone, but no one felt the loss as largely as the winning duelist. There was no finality, barely a good-bye, and then he just left. Gone for good. For forever. He walked into the afterlife, to be happy with his friends from another life, with barely a glance back. The reason he didn't look back; he couldn't bear to see the tears flowing down his hikari's face.

Unbeknownst to everyone except Yugi, Atemu had slipped a miniscule piece of paper into his hand as he was helping Yugi stand up.

Yugi never told anyone.

--------3 months later-------

Yugi shifted uncomfortably in his bed. For the life of him, sleep was being elusive, so matter how tired he was. He sat up, watching as the neon red lights of his digital clock switched from 1:59 to 2:00 am. Rubbing his fatigued eyes, he got out of bed after reaching the conclusion that sleep was going to continue to avoid him.

Walking over to the window in his bedroom in only a light T-shirt and his sleep boxers, he gazed out the window at the night sky. The moon was only a tiny sliver, and very few stars were out from the combined lights of Domino and scattered clouds. Sighing, he laid his head against the glass, relishing in its cool feel against his forehead.

Slowly going over to his desk, Yugi pulled out a few books and binders before being able to grasp the tiny box sitting in the back of a drawer. Hesitating ever so briefly, he placed the box on his desk. This box was a present from his grandfather, a small wooden puzzle box he had brought back from some vacation or another that was impossible to open unless you knew the secret.

Yugi slid a few of the levers around and knocked the box against the desk to de-activate the magnetic bond holding the main part of the box closed. He slid the lid off the box and reached in to grasp the sliver of paper kept in there.

Making his way back to the window, Yugi unfolded the well-worn paper and held it up to read it in the faint moonlight.

_My Precious Aibou,_

_Congratulations on your victory today. I know even while writing this that you will succeed in sending me back to where I belong in the afterlife. Although, I cannot help but wish that you will fail and I will get to remain by your side. Yugi, I love you. I have ever since I truly got to know you. How I wish I could have had the strength to tell you exactly how much you meant to me in our time together. Please try and move on with your life, you still have many accomplishments awaiting you. I will always love you._

_Yours for eternity, Atemu_

Yugi smiled and blinked, letting the moisture in his eyes procure a single teardrop. Looking up at the stars, he whispered 'Yami, I'm suffocating here without you by my side. How could you expect me to live alone, be with just me? You took my breath away; losing you is like living in a world with no air'

With that said, Yugi walked back over to his desk and slid the paper back into its secret compartment. After taking one last look at the dimly lit sky, he pulled back the covers to his bed, crawled inside, and finally succumbed to sleep with the murmured thought 'Atemu … Yami … I love you'.

-------In the afterlife-----

Atemu wandered around the large and lavishly decorated Egyptian palace in the afterlife with seemingly no set goal in mind, something that had been happening with more and more frequency. His thoughts however, were not quite as aimless as his body. '_Oh Ra, I miss my aibou, my hikari, my Yugi. What I wouldn't give to know his feelings for me, after I gave him that note. Was it enough? Was it too much? Has he even read it? Would he have returned my feelings?_' These questions, plus many more, were running full circle in his head.

Not noticing where he was going, Atemu walked into a small garden that he had never come across before. There was a small pond in the middle of it, with holly bushes surrounding the glade, with calla lilies, stargazer lilies and amethyst lilacs surrounding the pond. This secluded area held an aura of mystery, and shimmered with an ethereal magical light.

Approaching the pond with caution, Atemu glanced down only to gasp and jump back with the shock of what he saw in the depths. Instead of fish or any other aquatic life, he saw the very object of his thoughts, laughing while walking home from school with Joey, Tristan and Tèa. Yugi seemed happy enough, and it looked as if he had grown a few inches, but that could be from the more confident poise he held while walking. Those gorgeous eyes that always had captivated his attention still shone with happiness, but lacked that distinct sparkle Atemu remembered.

With a heavy sigh, Atemu walked away from the pond with a promise to return as often as possible to watch his aibou from another world. He was careful to remember his surroundings and the path towards this mysterious place as he went to go find his friends back in the palace, with no intention of telling them about his discovery.

Quite often after this first discovery, Atemu found himself at the little garden with more and more frequency. He just enjoyed watching Yugi; barely staying awake in school, playing arcade games against Joey, talking to his grandfather during dinner, helping out around the shop, doing homework, and many other mundane tasks of life. He could spend hours here, and sometimes did, but other times it was only for a minute or two while heading somewhere else.

One day, Atemu felt a nagging presence at the back of his head telling him to go to the pond and see what Yugi was up to. Arriving at the edge of the pond, he looked down and saw his hikari gazing out into a hazy night sky. Leaning down, Atemu reached into the water, the distortion of the waves not altering the scene before him, but to his surprise allowing him to hear the very end of what Yugi was saying. _"losing you is like living in a world with no air"_

He watched Yugi get up and move around, immediately recognizing the slip of paper Yugi was putting away. '_He can't have…but he kept it! So how do I know how he fee_-' his thoughts cut off abruptly as he observed Yugi getting back into his bed, muttering "_Atemu … Yami … I love you_".

With a sharp intake of breath, Atemu removed his hand slowly from the water. '_Well that certainly changes things, my little Yugi_'. Determinedly, he made his way back to the main part of the palace

-----

After looking through seemingly hundreds of volumes in the immense palace library, Atemu found a bit of useful information, and retraced his steps to get back to the glade. Finding the entrance after only a minute or two of distraction, he walked in slowly with the knowledge of what he was about to do.

Summoning the deepest feelings of love he had for Yugi, Atemu walked, broke into a run, and jumped into the water, landing with hardly a splash and no one realizing he was gone.

Shaking himself off, he took in his surroundings with caution; he had landed on the floor of Yugi's bedroom, thankfully not waking the teenager up. Glancing at the clock, he noticed that it was only 7:42, and Yugi was going to be asleep for awhile seeing as it was Saturday in the real world.

Slowly getting up, he sat down gingerly on Yugi's bed, pressing a hand lightly to his head. The teen seemed fine, just slightly skinnier than when they were last together, and ever so slightly paler. He absolutely could not wait until his light opened his eyes, but he resigned himself to watching over the slumbering teen, gently stroking the blond bangs with the rest of his hair.

An hour or so later, Yugi started stirring, and Atemu jumped back from the motion. Rubbing his large amethyst eyes and yawning adorably, Yugi swung his legs over the bed and walked to the bathroom on autopilot without even looking around the room. Once he returned, Atemu saw him freeze in the doorway and blink a few times before whispering "Yami…? bu-but…how? am I still dreaming? Is that really you?"

Atemu nodded slowly, and spoke tentatively with his voice barely above a whisper "Yes Yugi, aibou, it's me". After another moment of stunned silence, he found himself tackled to the ground, his arms full of a hysterically sobbing Yugi.

"Oh Yami! It's been so hard here without you. The silence in my head…it's deafening! You took my breath away! My world revolves around you it's so hard for me to breathe. Somehow I'm still alive inside, you took my breath, but I survived. I don't know how you're here, but I don't even care"

Atemu slowly stroked the head of his love, choosing to continue whispering to him "Aibou, I didn't want to leave. My heart belongs here with you. The afterlife isn't making me happy, I'm there alone, I'm incomplete. I wish there was a way to make you understand"

Continuing to grasp Atemu with the onslaught of tears subsiding, Yugi nodded and looked up into the eyes that had been gracing his dreams for the past few months. Stuttering horribly, he belted out "Y-yami, there's, well, something I want to tell, or I guess return--". Giving up on any form of explanation whatsoever, Yugi brought his lips down to meet Atemu's in the softest but most heartfelt kiss that either had experienced.

Breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against Atemu's tanner one, Yugi whispered directly into his ear "I still have the note, and I love you too" With a contented sigh, Yugi stood up and reached a hand down to help Atemu up off the floor.

Once they were both standing, Atemu pulled Yugi into a suffocating hug before tilting his head up to meet him in another breath stopping kiss. Yugi could feel all the oxygen leaving his body, and had to break off the kiss for a quick gasp of air, but then re-joined their lips in another loving embrace.

"This is what I wanted, what I needed. Always you, only you, forever"

------

This is where I felt like leaving it off, you can use your imagination for what happens after, and who says that last line there.

Much thanks to the BPS forum for being generally amazing people and inspiring me to actually write something! ...and post it [come join us, we're epic and awesome!]

If you actually decide to review, thanks!


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